NanoViricides, Inc. Welcomes Dr. Irach Taraporewala as the New CEO

SHELTON, Conn., July 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- NanoViricides, Inc. (NYSE Amer: NNVC) (the "Company"), is pleased to announce that the Company's Board has appointed Dr. Irach Taraporewala as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Dr. Irach B. Taraporewala is a seasoned pharmaceutical executive with over 25 years of experience in drug development and regulatory strategy. He is a hands-on CEO with strong scientific background combined with significant management, leadership, business development, and financing experience.

"Irach has precisely the skill set that we were looking for. He is an experienced Pharmaceutical Industry Executive, accomplished in the development of novel drugs. Importantly, he has experience in working with the FDA in designing clinical trials, and he has taken a novel drug candidate through successful Phase II human clinical trials," said Dr. Mukund Kulkarni, Chairman of the Compensation Committee, and a Director of the Company.

"We welcome Irach and believe that his joining the Company is a milestone achievement in fortifying our Management Team by bringing in strong Pharmaceutical Industry and Regulatory expertise," said Dr. Anil R. Diwan, President and Chairman of the Company, adding, "Irach has strong expertise in CMC and QA/QC areas that will be extremely valuable for us to progress into an IND with our lead drug candidate in the HerpeCidetm program. He also has fund-raising experience in an early stage pharmaceutical company."

"We believe that our substantive search and due diligence processes have led to the selection of the ideal candidate," agreed Mr. Stan Glick, Chairman of the Search Committee and a Director of the Company.

Dr. Taraporewala was previously the founding CEO and President of Ohr Pharmaceutical, Inc. ("Ohr"), from April 2010 until December 2015.  During his 5 years of leadership at Ohr, he played a critical role in taking the company from preclinical stage through successful Phase II clinical trials. Dr. Taraporewala ensured that the Company was well capitalized, oversaw the up-listing of the Company's common stock to the NASDAQ exchange, and completed several successful rounds of financing.

Prior to Ohr, Dr. Taraporewala was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Research at Mystic Pharmaceuticals Inc., Austin, TX, from April 2008 to March 2010. At Mystic, he led the regulatory strategy for the Company's ophthalmic and intranasal drug products, as well as drug delivery systems. Earlier, Dr. Taraporewala served at a well-known pharmaceutical consulting and clinical research organization, PAREXEL International Corp., as Senior Consultant in the Drug Development Consulting Division. In this position, he provided technical expertise and regulatory advice to small and large biotechnology and pharmaceutical company clients worldwide.

Dr. Taraporewala holds a Ph.D. degree in Medicinal Chemistry from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (1984).  He holds a Master of Science degree in Organic Chemistry, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Microbiology, both from the University of Bombay, India.

He will join NanoViricides, Inc. as of September 1st, 2018, although he has already begun to work with the Company in a limited capacity. 

About NanoViricides:
NanoViricides, Inc. (www.nanoviricides.com) is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide® class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. The Company is developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.  Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in pre-clinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products.

SOURCE NanoViricides, Inc.